mp3 recorders for live recording

Anybody using mp3 recorders for live recording on gigs? I've got a cheap one ("Gigafast") with no level control-worthless to set it on the bandstand. I know people who've used IRiver, Archos, and IPod (with an attachment). Everybody has some complaint or other. I've also considered mini-disc, but I'd rather have something that talks to a computer better.

Anybody using mp3 recorders for live recording on gigs? I've got a cheap one ("Gigafast") with no level control-worthless to set it on the bandstand. I know people who've used IRiver, Archos, and IPod (with an attachment). Everybody has some complaint or other. I've also considered mini-disc, but I'd rather have something that talks to a computer better.

Thanks! Davizao (David Jernigan).

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I have a NetMD mini disc player/recorder that has a mic input and I have found it to be awesome. The cradle that is hooked up to the computer makes it very easy to get the music off the recorder. For the mic input I just use a cheap stereo mic, like the kind that hooks up to a computer. It's great for mic'ing the room's acoustics.

I have also found this to be the best way to record free-form jams for song-writing purposes. Just a thought.

I'll second the MD player/recorder. Just about the best equipment investment I've made. Goes to every practice and most gigs. In general, we just turn it on and let it record everything, just in case we cook up something that we can't "find" later. Happens a lot more often than I would have expected.

It makes it really easy to run the basics of a song without vocals so that singer can work on different wordings and phrasings. It's not the most user-friendly device ever (at least with mine, I have to essentially play back the segment and record it into the computer, which means I have to listen to the practice and find the segment), but it is darn good at what it does.

I have a NetMD mini disc player/recorder that has a mic input and I have found it to be awesome. The cradle that is hooked up to the computer makes it very easy to get the music off the recorder. For the mic input I just use a cheap stereo mic, like the kind that hooks up to a computer. It's great for mic'ing the room's acoustics.

I have also found this to be the best way to record free-form jams for song-writing purposes. Just a thought.

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How exactly to you go from MD to your computer?

I have the blue MD and the only way I know of to go from MD to computer is to go analog out of the MD into the AUX analog input on my computer's sound card and use software to record the analog source digitally.

I haven't been able to us the Optical or USB ports on the MD to output a signal. I think that they are only inputs.

It would be really sweet if I could use the USB to get music from MD to CPU.

I use an old Creative Nomad Jukebox 3. It's fabulous for live recording because:

-They're cheap and on ebay all the time.
-They have both analog copper and optical digital inputs, so you can take a feed off of a digital mixing board (for instance) if you have the need.
-You can pull the data off as a stereo WAV file via Firewire 400 and do further processing in software.
-Although it's not new enough to do 24 bit, it will do DAT quality (16 bit/48kHz) as well as CD quality and various bitrates of mp3 for "sketchpad tracks" that don't take up gobs of space.
-Two line out jacks.

For show recording I will usually take a couple small diaphragm condensers and put one up on either side of the soundboard. Those will run into a FMR RNP and from there the signal goes to the line in port of the Nomad.